"A picture of a nation in the throes of significant social, economic and political change." That's the image Japan Study Tour participant Richard Ellsworth came away with from the 1997 summer tour, which is jointly sponsored by AACSB and the independent, nonprofit Keizai Koho Center. "The trip raised more questions than it answered," added Ellsworth, associate professor at the Drucker Management Center at The Claremont Graduate School, "which is the hallmark of an intellectually stimulating experience."

Entitled "Japan in Transition: Reforms in Japan and Competition in the Market," the tour focused on issues of deregulation, corporate governance and Japan's struggle to remain competitive in the global marketplace. During the 12-day visit, tour participants heard from economists, business people and educators with a variety of opinions on Japan's economic future. Speakers included, among many others, Akira Kiuchi, director/chief economist for the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan; Glenn Fukushima, vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan; Mitsuhiro Takase, vice president of planning and general affairs for Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT); Hideo Aoki, vice chairman of MK Taxi Corporation; and R. Taggart Murphy, author of "The Weight of the Yen."

The study tour, which included nine days in Tokyo and three days in the old Imperial City of Kyoto, also took participants to business and educational institutions, including the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Tokyo University, NTT's corporate headquarters, and Japan Sun Industries' electronic component assembly facilities in Kyoto.

The group was left with impressions of a Japan that is full of contrasts. "The contradictory nature of Japan was exemplified by the two cities we visited - Tokyo and Kyoto," said Nancy Marlow, associate professor in the College of Business and Applied Science at Eastern Illinois University. "While Kyoto was the traditional Japan with modern glimpses, Tokyo was the modern Japan with traditional glimpses." Richard M. Burton, professor and program director of health services management at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, agreed. "There are two Japans," said Burton. "One is the new, more western Japan and the other is the traditional Japan that has been centuries in its development."

Japan's evolving economy, too, could be seen in the context of old and new. Christine Rider, associate dean of the College of Business Administration at St. John's University, gave as an example "the existence of a technologically advanced manufacturing sector coexisting with a weak services sector and a relatively backwards distribution system."

Another area of tension is in corporate governance. Japan's current, entrenched system is in need of reforms, but determining how - and why - to reform remains a difficult challenge. "Calls for change seem to be motivated by a desire to maintain the international competitiveness of Japanese industry rather than by a desire to improve the living standards of consumers, the efficient allocation of capital or the returns to investors," observed R. D. Nair, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.

Deregulation, a focus of the tour and a subject of intense debate, is another complex issue. "I left Japan convinced of the manifest necessity to deregulate its industries, the firm commitment of the business and educational communities to achieve meaningful deregulation, and the sheer magnitude and difficulty of the task," said Edward Schoen, dean of the McGowan School of Business at King's College.

Although Japan is moving slowly toward deregulation, participants pointed out that this deregulation is not as Americans conceive it. "We quickly learned that in Japan, [deregulation] means 'relaxation of regulation,' not 'removal of regulation' as in the West," said Rider. "We must not assume that deregulation means the same to the Japanese as it does to us," echoed Marlow. "Nor can we assume that deregulation will make them more like us." There are other differences as well. "Americans view the objective of deregulation to be a favorable impact on the consumer," Ellsworth said. "The Japanese, on the other hand, view it as a means to improve Japan's international competitiveness."

For many of the participants, coming to this understanding of the differences - and similarities - of Japan and the U.S. was one of the most valuable lessons of the tour. "I was somewhat surprised to learn that Japan's business people expressed admiration for many of our American business practices. They admire our diversity and our leadership," said Marlow. "One thing I have taken away from this experience is a new understanding of the importance of the United States to Japan both economically and politically," she said. "Japan will always be Japan, and we, as business professors, must help our students understand and value the differences and similarities between our two countries."

Indeed, participants were eager to return to campus and share their new knowledge with colleagues and students. One of the goals of the tour is to promote curricular changes and participants spoke of developing courses, incorporating discussions of Japan's economy into their curriculum, giving guest lectures in colleagues' courses on international business, developing seminars on Japanese business practices, giving presentations to other faculty members, and sharing reading materials with faculty and students. Several research projects also may result from the trip.

Participants were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the tour. "This was an excellent experience that will be beneficial as I move back into the classroom," said Arthur Kraft, former dean and now professor of strategic management at Georgia Institute of Technology's DuPree School of Management.

"This was my first opportunity to travel to Japan and the trip represented the fulfillment of a dream that I had had for many years," said Marlow. "The trip not only met but exceeded my expectations."

Participant suggestions for next year include more tours, including a tour of a manufacturing facility, perhaps an automobile plant; the inclusion of a case study of an American company's efforts to break into the Japanese market; a visit to a Japanese home; and more advance reading materials on Japanese customs and culture. "It would have been good to tour some [factories], to hear more from bureaucrats and politicians, to speak to more students," said Nair. "However, a lot was achieved in 12 days. The study tour presented us with a picture of a Japan in transition, a Japan that made us feel very welcome and that treated us with great hospitality."

The 1997 study tour participants also included Raj Aggarwal, chair and professor, School of Business, John Carroll University; Rajeev Kohli, professor, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University; V. Kanti Prasad, associate dean at the School of Business Administration, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; and J. P. Shim, professor, College of Business and Industry, Mississippi State University.

Details about the next AACSB/KKC Japan Study Tour will be mailed to AACSB member deans, associate deans and department and program chairs in late fall.